maruf

Noun

ma'ruf (plural ma'rufs)

1. A vowel phoneme that is phonemically equivalent to a vowel in Classical Arabic.
   • The New Persian [of Iran], as is well known, has confused in many words the majhūl (' unknown [to the Arabs]' =Persian sounds) vowels ē, ō with the ma'rūf ('known [to the Arabs]'=Arabic sounds) vowels ī, ū.
     The Judaeo-Persian and the Baluci, like the Indian pronunciation of New Persian, maintain...1902, Indo-Iranian phonology (Indo-Iranian Series), volume 2, United States: The Columbia University Press
2. (broadly) A semivowel, or other vocalic character, with a reading that is phonemically equivalent to its normal pronunciation in Classical Arabic.
   • [...] there are two kinds of Yā in Persian, namely, the Ma'rūf and the Majhūl. The Ma'rūf or known Yā is the Yā which occurs in such words as رقیب, تیر, شیر (milk), دید, پیل etc., while the Majhūl or Unknown Yā occurs in words such as خویش, تیز, شیر (lion), سپید etc.1921, “The Unknown Yā in Persian”, in Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona, volumes 3-4, pages 86-87